The present invention relates generally to compositions and methods for treating pulmonary dysfunction; more particularly, it relates to methods and compositions for treating or preventing constriction of the bronchial tubes whereby the many and varied problems associated with the disease can be prevented, arrested, substantially alleviated or cured.
This inventor has discovered that the combined use of these herbs produces a composition that is remarkably effective in restoring pulmonary function. Previous inventions have disclosed two or more of these herbs in Markush groups for various nutritional products for other purposes, mostly in topical formulations and, in regards to the Prunus species of cherry and peach, as flavorings for medicinal foods. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 6,342,208, to Hyldgaard describes such a group for an oil-in-water emulsion for treating skin disorders; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,045,779, to Meuller, discloses Prunus amygdalus (peach) and Althea officionalis (mallow) in a Markush group for a skin and hair aerosol foam preparation. U.S. Pat. No. 6,399,114, to Foreman, describes a nutritional system for nervous system disorders that combines Verbascum (mullein) as a Vitamin C source with Althea (mallo) as a source of magnesium sources, but does not teach their use in the restoration or maintenance of pulmonary function. U.S. Pat. No. 6,210,738, to Chen, describes a combination of Verbascum (mullein) and winter cherry among numerous nutrients to use in a freeze-dried ginseng berry tea as “natural health promoting ingredients” but the teachings of Chen are not directed to pulmonary function. U.S. Pat. No. 4,581,230, to Grollier, teaches the combination of cherry flowers (not bark) with water soluble portions or mullein or marsh mallow in cosmetic composition for the treatment of the hair and skin. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 6,403,654 discloses the combined use of mallow and eucalyptus, but it does not disclose the combination with Gnaphalium obtusifolim L., Liquidambar, or Verbascum, and the composition is used for the treatment for psoriasis. Verbascum and Eucalyptus are taught by Blount in U.S. Pat. No. 6,287,567 in a method of making an herbal drink. Golz-Berner, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,426,080 and others, utilizes various Prunus species and Arecola fruits in cosmetic preparations of active substances with high protection factor against free radicals. The combined suggestion of cherry and peach as optional flavorings is ubiquitous in the data base as various nutritional foods, drinks and the like.
No inventor has disclosed the combination of Gnaphalium obtusifolim L with Liquidambar, with or without Verbascum, for restoring or maintaining pulmonary function in mammals.
Gnaphalium obtusifolim L.
Gnaphalium obtusifolium L is also known as Sweet Everlasting, Cudweed, Old Field Balsam, Sweet White Balsam, Indian Posy, Life of Man, Poverty Weed, and Fussy Gussy. It was used extensively by Native Americans for a wide variety of ailments, including asthma, but little is known as to its mechanism of action. James Mooney (1886, 325), who studied extensively among the Eastern Cherokee, wrote about the use of Gnaphalium decurrens, winged cudweed or winged life everlasting. This species, now known as G. viscosum, is identical to G. obtusifolium except that the leaves are stalkless. It is probable that the two were not differentiated by the Cherokees. He writes that it is “considered one of their most valuable medical plants.” The decoction is drunk for colds and it is used in the sweat lodge. As the next source notes, it is also diaphoretic. Several books by modern Cherokee authors mention the use of rabbit tobacco, and identify rabbit tobacco as Gnaphalium obtusifolium and record the following uses:                Decoction for colds; use with carolina vetch [Vicia caroliniana] for rheumatism; sweat bath for various diseases; warm liquid is blow down through joy-pye-weed stem for clogged throat (diphtheria); ingredient in medicine for local pains, muscular cramps, and twitching; chew for sore mouth or throat; smoke for asthma; cough syrup.Wood, Mathew, Reg. Herbalist, AN INTUITIVE STUDY OF RABBIT TOBACCO, originally presented as a paper at the Scottish School of Herbal Medicine (2007).        
Liquidambar 
The tree received its name for the sweet taste and gummy feel of its sap. Early Pioneers used to make chewing gum. The Sweet gum plant is from the genus Liquidambar and is a member of the deciduous hardwoods or Hamamelidaceae. The North American species is native to Connecticut, south to New York to Florida, southern Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri to Texas and Mexico. The tree is a living fossil that has twenty known extinct species, the oldest found in the Upper Eocene rocks of Greenland, during a time when the continent had a subtropical climate, some 55,000,000 years ago. Fossils were later found in Italy, Siberia, Colo., and in great numbers in the Miocene lake beds of Switzerland.
The tree gets its name from Native Americans and early pioneers who would chew its hard clumps of resin. This could be obtained by stripping off the bark and allowing the resin to harden. Commercial storax was used in fragrances and medicines as well and is found in related oriental sweet gum plants.
Verbascum (Mullein)
The Mulleins, of the genus Verbascum, are a genus of about 250 species of flowering plants in the figwort family (Scrophulariaceae). They are native to Europe and Asia, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean region.
They are biennial or perennial plants, rarely annuals or subshrubs, growing to 0.5-3 m tall. The plants first form a dense rosette of leaves at ground level, subsequently sending up a tall flowering stem. The leaves are spirally arranged, often densely hairy, though glabrous (hairless) in some species. The flowers have five symmetrical petals; petal colours in different species include yellow (most common), orange, red-brown, purple, blue or white. The fruit is a capsule containing numerous minute seeds.
Eucalyptus 
The decongestant properties of Eucalyptus have been noted by the World Health Organization. Aetheroleum Eucalypti is the essential oil obtained by steam distillation and rectification of the fresh leaves or terminal branchlets of Eucalyptus globulus Labill (Myrtaceae) or other Eucalyptus species rich in 1,8-cineole. A clinical trial without controls assessed the effects of Aetheroleum Eucalypti as a nasal decongestant in 31 healthy volunteers. Inhalation of the essential oil (10 ml) over a period of 5 minutes had no effect on nasal resistance to airflow. However, the oil had a stimulant or sensitizing effect on nasal cold receptors, and the majority of subjects reported a sensation of increased airflow. A single-blind, parallel clinical trial assessed the efficacy of vaporized essential oil, camphor, menthol or steam in reducing nasal congestion in 234 patients with acute respiratory tract infections. The essential oil was significantly more effective in reducing nasal congestion only during the first hour following treatment (P<0.02) (32). In other clinical studies of patients with acute common colds, no significant differences in nasal decongestant activity were reported between the essential oil (1.3%) in petrolatum and a petrolatum placebo. WHO MONOGRAPHS ON SELECTED MEDICINAL PLANTS—Volume 2: Aetheroleus (2010).